Obamacare Costly, Unconstitutional (Letter to the Editor)

TO THE EDITOR:
Can I assume that Editor Gwen Moritz (“The Devil We Knew,” July 16) has read all 2,700-plus pages of Obamacare and “still think[s] Obamacare is a step forward?” I guess in her mind universal health care as in England or Canada is the next step. If you have read any reliable reports on health care in those two countries, you should come to the opposite conclusion that universal health care is not the answer. Does she really think that Obamacare solves the problems of employer-provided health insurance? Just the opposite.

Are you aware of a new study by the Joint Economic Committee that reports that Obamacare will impose higher taxes totaling $4 trillion between now and 2035? Among those taxes are:

1. Increase Medicare hospital insurance payroll tax from 2.9 percent to 3.8 percent for couples earning more than $250,000 a year ($200,000 for single filers).

2. Apply 3.8 percent hospital insurance tax to investment income for those two groups above.

3. Impose an annual fee on health insurance providers.

4. Apply a 40 percent excise tax on “Cadillac” health insurance plans.

5. Impose an annual fee on branded drugs.

6. Impose 2.3 percent excise tax on certain medical devices.

7. Raise the floor on medical expense deductions from 7.5 percent to 10 percent.

8. Limit Flexible Spending Accounts to $2,500.

9. Reduce number of medical products purchased from Flexible Spending Accounts and Health Savings Accounts.

10. Impose a 10 percent excise tax on indoor tanning salons.

These are just a few of the new taxes. Of course, Moritz was aware of these new taxes since she has read all 2,700 pages of Obamacare.

In addition to these new taxes, there is the creation of layers upon layers of new bureaucracies including the “death panel,” a panel of 15 persons who will decide who receives what treatments and medications, just as they do in England and Canada. Of course, Moritz already knew this since she read all 2,700 pages of Obamacare.

I question the validity of her statement that “dozens of countries have better health outcomes than we do.” Yes, the cost of health care may be lower than in the United States, but not necessarily better outcomes.

Then there is the mandatory requirement that citizens buy health insurance or be “taxed.” Regardless of how the Supreme Court ruled, we all know that it was not a tax but a penalty. And we all know that Obamacare itself is unconstitutional. Have you eaten your broccoli today?
 
Gerald L. Wells
Little Rock

(Editor’s Note: The 15-member panel to which Wells refers is the Independent Payment Advisory Board established by the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act. Beginning in 2015, if Medicare costs are growing too quickly, the IPAB will be empowered to make binding recommendations on cost cutting. If Congress rejects the recommendations, it must find equal savings elsewhere.)